2576: Why Can’t I Get Back to Sleep? by Christian Finn of Muscle Evo on How to Improve Sleeping Habits

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[00:01:04] Have you ever noticed how a calm mind can really set the stage for a good night's sleep?

[00:01:09] That's the idea behind our new podcast, Good Sleep. Greg, our host from Optimal Relationships

[00:01:15] Daily is here to help ease you into a peaceful night's rest with some positive affirmations.

[00:01:20] And these affirmations aren't just comforting, they can help ease anxiety and nurture positive

[00:01:26] thoughts, setting you up for true good sleep. So press play on Good Sleep tonight because a

[00:01:33] good tomorrow starts with a good night's sleep. Just search for Good Sleep in your podcast app

[00:01:39] and be sure to pick the one from Optimal Living Daily. This is Optimal Health Daily, episode 2576,

[00:01:47] Why Can't I Get Back to Sleep? by Christian Finn of MuscleEvo.net and I'm Dr. Neil Malek.

[00:01:54] Hey there, happy Monday and welcome back to Optimal Health Daily where I act as your narrator

[00:01:59] of the best health and fitness blogs all for free and always with a bit of my commentary at the end.

[00:02:05] And with that, let's get right to it and start optimizing your life.

[00:02:14] Why Can't I Get Back to Sleep? by Christian Finn of MuscleEvo.net

[00:02:20] As I sit here writing to you, it's 2.43 am. I've been awake for the last 45 minutes.

[00:02:28] All the sleep hygiene boxes have been ticked. The room is dark and quiet. There are no electronic

[00:02:35] gadgets in there. I have nothing on my mind that I'm trying to remember to remember.

[00:02:41] But for reasons that remain mysterious, I cannot get back to sleep. It makes no sense,

[00:02:47] especially given that the exact opposite will often happen when I'm seated in a meeting.

[00:02:52] The lights in the room are on, people are talking, matters of great importance are being discussed,

[00:02:58] and I am nodding my head sagely. And yet, it's only meeting etiquette that stops me falling into

[00:03:04] the warm and comforting embrace of an afternoon nap. Rather than waste any more time tossing and

[00:03:11] turning in bed, I thought I'd write to you about the negative impact that sleep deprivation can

[00:03:16] have on your ability to lose fat and build muscle. As you probably know already, lack of sleep doesn't

[00:03:23] do great things for your mood. But a single night of missed sleep is unlikely to harm your performance

[00:03:29] in the gym. In one trial, researchers from Midwestern State University found that going

[00:03:35] an entire night without sleep had no effect on training performance in a group of collegiate

[00:03:40] weightlifters. Although total mood disturbance was increased by sleep deprivation,

[00:03:46] the men were able to lift just as much weight as they did following a night of normal sleep.

[00:03:51] Where sleep deprivation does make it more difficult to get in shape is by affecting both hunger,

[00:03:57] the physical need for food, and appetite, the desire for food. Researchers aren't sure exactly

[00:04:04] how it happens. Some studies show that sleep deprivation disrupts some of the hormones like

[00:04:09] leptin and ghrelin that affect your eating habits. Brain cells involved in the modulation of reward

[00:04:15] and motivation may also be altered by restricting sleep. The result is that you end up eating far

[00:04:21] more than normal. In some trials, subjects who were deprived of sleep ended up munching their

[00:04:27] way through the best part of 600 extra calories per day. In other words, a lack of sleep makes

[00:04:33] it a lot harder to control your appetite, especially for high-carbohydrate junk foods like

[00:04:38] sweets, cookies, chips, and so on. Sleep deprivation isn't great news for your testosterone levels either.

[00:04:45] A group of young men spent three nights in a sleep lab, sleeping for up to 10 hours. For the

[00:04:51] next eight nights, their sleep was restricted to just five hours per night. As a result,

[00:04:57] daytime testosterone levels dropped by 10 to 15%. A follow-up study found no significant effect of

[00:05:03] sleep restriction on testosterone. But there was a trend towards a decrease, which may have been

[00:05:09] greater had the sleep restriction phase of the study lasted longer than five nights. Now it gets worse.

[00:05:15] Another study I looked at shows that overweight adults on a diet lost 60% more muscle with

[00:05:22] 5.5 hours versus 8.5 hours of sleep opportunity per night. Both groups followed the exact same

[00:05:29] diet, losing an average of 6.6 pounds during each 14-day session. During weeks with adequate sleep,

[00:05:36] roughly half of the lost weight came from fat and half from fat-free mass. But during the short

[00:05:43] sleep weeks, participants lost an average of 1.3 pounds of fat and 5.3 pounds of fat-free mass.

[00:05:52] When sleep was restricted, dieters produced higher levels of ghrelin, a hormone that triggers hunger

[00:05:58] and reduces energy expenditure. Higher ghrelin levels have been shown to, according to the authors,

[00:06:06] reduce energy expenditure, stimulate hunger and food intake, promote retention of fat,

[00:06:12] and increase hepatic glucose production to support the availability of fuel to glucose-dependent

[00:06:18] tissues. In our experiment, sleep restriction was accompanied by a similar pattern of increased

[00:06:24] hunger and reduced oxidation of fat." Granted, this was a short trial lasting 14 days,

[00:06:33] and nobody taking part lifted any weights or ate enough protein. But the research does hint at the

[00:06:38] possibility that sleep deprivation could make it harder to retain muscle while dropping fat.

[00:06:45] To paraphrase Alex Hutchinson, if you're taking ice baths, drinking beet juice, and wearing all the

[00:06:51] latest compression gear but you're skimping on sleep, you've got your priorities all wrong.

[00:06:58] So there you have it. I'm probably not going to be in the greatest mood for the rest of the day.

[00:07:03] My performance in the gym isn't going to suffer too much. But the chances are very high that at

[00:07:08] some point this afternoon, I'm going to be hit with the urge to eat the entire packet of custard

[00:07:14] creams currently in my cupboard. You just listened to the post titled, Why Can't I Get Back to Sleep?

[00:07:24] by Christian Finn of MuscleEvo.net. And I'll be right back with my commentary.

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[00:08:40] Dr. Neil here for my commentary. Here's the thing about sleep deprivation.

[00:08:45] When we learn about all the possible negative effects of sleep deprivation,

[00:08:50] it can stress us out to the point where we lose even more sleep thinking about it.

[00:08:54] We start playing this mental game with ourselves. If I fall asleep right now,

[00:08:59] I'll still get 4 solid hours before I have to wake up. Fast forward an hour later, we're still awake,

[00:09:06] and we then tell ourselves, okay, okay, if I fall asleep right now, I can get at least 3 hours of

[00:09:12] solid sleep before I have to wake up. Sadly, this game doesn't actually lead us to falling asleep.

[00:09:18] This may be because we've put so much pressure on the act of falling asleep that it's having

[00:09:23] the opposite effect. It's keeping us wide awake. So, one of the most influential psychologists of

[00:09:29] all time, Dr. Viktor Frankl, had a suggestion. Do the opposite to yourself. Instead of stressing

[00:09:36] about falling asleep, think about trying to stay awake. As a result, this frees your mind and body

[00:09:43] of the pressure to fall asleep. And magically, releasing that pressure helps us fall asleep

[00:09:50] faster. Try it out. See if it works for you. Alright, that'll do it for today. Thank you so

[00:09:55] much for being here and listening through to the end. I hope you have a great start to your week,

[00:10:00] and I'll see you back here tomorrow as usual where your optimal life awaits!